“So, you’re from New York, huh?”

Brielle looked up from her glass of lemonade to see Denise watching her. The three of them were seated in the living room while AJ prepared the dinner. Denise had taken one of the armchairs and Lily and Brielle had sat next to each other on the sofa. “Not originally, but I’ve been there for the last three years.”

“Oh yeah?” Her brows lifted. “Where originally are you from?”

Brielle shared a glance with Lily. “Virginia; this little town in the middle of the state called Roan.”

“What took you to New York?”

Brielle fiddled with the glass in her hand, trying to conjure up something to tell Denise so she wouldn’t have to talk about her failed attempt at photography; her only dream since she was little.

“She’s a photographer,” Lily interjected with before her friend could think up something on her own.

Denise’s brows arched. “Is that so? Alex was telling me you didn’t have a job.”

“Oh, I don’t.” Great, now she sounded like she was hiding or lying about herself. “I couldn’t get my photography to take off; no one liked my pictures.” A twinge stirred in her chest at that thought and her shoulders drooped.

“Oh, well…I’m sorry about that.” The older woman sounded apologetic.

“Thank you.” Brielle smoothed her pants some and set her glass on a coaster on the coffee table.

“She’s not gonna give up though, are ya, Brie?”

Brielle looked to her friend, wishing she would drop it. “I don’t want to, but right now I don’t have much of a choice. No one is interested and…I’m kind of dealing with something at the moment.”

“Oh yes, the baby.” Denise nodded towards her. “How are you feeling, by the way?”

“Okay, I guess.”

Denise nodded some, watching her intently. “And how far along are you, may I ask?”

“Oh,” her blue eyes shifted to her friend then back onto Denise, “um, well, I think somewhere like twelve weeks.”

“Twelve weeks? And you haven’t seen a doctor yet? Goodness, we need to get you into someone soon.”

She sounded genuinely concerned and Brielle wasn’t sure how to take it. “Um…well, we have one Friday. Lily’s doctor in New York recommended someone out here.”

“And she saw a doctor back at the free clinic a few weeks back. They did one of those things and we got to hear the heartbeat,” Lily spoke from next to her, sounding proud of that.

“Ooh, well that’s good then.” The older woman seemed to relax.

Brielle nodded some and smoothed her hands over her pants. “Alex is going with us.”

“To the doctors?” When the blonde nodded, Denise smiled warmly. “I figured he would; he’s always said that he’s going to do everything he can when it comes time for him to have a child. I just didn’t figure it would be this way; I thought he’d find a girl and get married, settle down and then give me a grandchild.”

Brielle shifted uncomfortably at that. “Well, I hadn’t thought it’d be this way either. I didn’t see myself having children until I was way older.”

Denise tilted her head. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-one,” she replied meekly. She knew Alex was quite a bit older than she was, but it hadn’t seemed to matter that night they shared.

“Oh,” Denise pursed her lips, “I didn’t realize you were so young. Alex is nearly thirty-three.”

“Yikes,” Lily exclaimed before blinking and snapping her mouth shut.

Denise chuckled at that. “That’s quite an age range, but it’s not unusual for my son; he’s dated a few girls who were a lot younger than he was.”

Brielle blinked. “Oh, we’re um…we’re not dating. He’s engaged to Renee.” At the mention of her name, Brielle thought she saw a look of dislike pass over the older woman’s face, but it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

“Oh I know that, honey. I was just saying that he has in the past; so it’s no surprise that you and he…had a night together.”

The blonde felt her cheeks flush. “Oh.”

Lily looked between the two as a silence fell over them. “So,” she spoke up, clearing her throat, “how long are you going to be visiting with Alex, Mrs…um, Alex’s mom?”

Denise chuckled low. “Solis, but please, call me Denise. And I’ll be here through next Tuesday; so almost a week.”

“That’ll be plenty of time for you to get to know Brielle,” she flashed her friend a smile, “she’s really great and we’re gonna miss her in New York.”

“Ooh, so you are going to be moving out here.” She eyed Brielle with a look the girl couldn’t interpret, which caused her to shrink back into the couch.

“She is,” Lily spoke up for her. “Everyone feels like it’s the best thing and Alex really wants to be close and around for the pregnancy and then when the child is here.”

Denise nodded her head. “I understand that, but you can’t expect to live here in his house with him the entire time.”

“Oh, no, of course not.” Brielle shook her head quickly, feeling like she was suddenly intruding in his life. “He’s going to help me find a job and then I’ll get my own place. He’s getting married, I wouldn’t dream of staying here with him.”

The older woman nodded some, pleased with that response. She smoothed her sweater and took another sip of her iced water before turning her gaze onto the woman carrying her grandchild once more. “I’m sure you know that I’ve asked Alex to have a paternity test done.”

Brielle wet her bottom lip and gave a slight nod. “I do.”

“Not because we don’t believe you, but sometimes even the mother’s can be wrong,” she explained, trying to make herself still sound sympathetic. “We just want to be completely sure. There are going to be a lot of people questioning it once the news comes out and we want to be able to tell everyone that yes, we are absolutely positive that Alex is the father.”

Lily’s brow furrowed. “I understand wanting the paternity test, but Alex is the father. Brielle is not one of those girls that goes on Maury bringing fifteen different guys trying to find her baby daddy for the fourth time.”

Denise blinked some at her outburst. “I understand that, but for legal purposes, we would like a paternity test.”

The blonde reached and touched her friend’s arm. “It’s okay, Lily. I do understand and I told Alex I would do one. I have nothing to hide and I know who the father is. If they need the physical proof then they can have it.”

Lily sighed and nodded some. “You’re right. I’m sorry, Denise. Sometimes I get a little too protective over my friend. She doesn’t have anyone else looking out for her so I have to do it myself.”

“No, that’s alright. There’s no need for apologies.”

Brielle looked between the two, wishing she could slip from the room unnoticed. The entire situation with Alex’s mom was awkward and left the blonde feeling uncomfortable and intrusive. Denise, while pleasant, did seem to not trust her and she tried to understand; if in her shoes she probably wouldn’t trust the girl either, but Brielle wasn’t like that. She wasn’t going to take his money or use him for his fame. And the idea of letting him buy her clothes and other necessities was bothersome enough. It panged her that everyone was going to be judging her and looking at her like she was in it for things she wasn’t and she wasn’t sure if she would have the energy to withstand it all.

“Brielle, you feeling okay?” Lily touched her arm and drew the blonde from her thoughts.

“Hm? Yeah, I’m good.” She nodded and reached for her glass of lemonade.

Her friend eyed her for a moment. “You sure?”

“Yeah, I’m just tired,” she lied, hoping Lily would let it drop, or at least wait until they were alone to ask her about it.

Lily made a face. “Oh gosh, you probably are.” She cast her eyes over to Denise. “We spent most the afternoon shopping. Do you want to go lie down some before dinner,” she questioned her friend.

“You went shopping?” Denise questioned before Brielle could respond.

“Sure did. Brielle was having a hard time fitting into her clothing, so Alex took us shopping and we got her fixed up.” She flashed a grin.

“Why am I not surprised,” Denise muttered low then rose from her chair and excused herself, slipping from the room and heading down the hall into the kitchen. She found her son heating up a pot of water on the stove, singing some song under his breath. “Need any help?”

Alex jerked and spun in her direction. “Shi-oot, Mom, you scared me.”

She chuckled low. “Sorry. I thought I’d come see how you were doing in here.”

He glanced toward hallway. “I thought you were visiting with Brielle and Lily…getting to know Brie better.”

“I was.” She set her water glass down and busied herself with tossing some of the trash he had accrued.

Alex watched her a moment. “Did something happen?”

“No,” Denise shook her head then suddenly turned to face him, “yes. They told me you took Brielle shopping today.”

He blinked. “I did.” A pause. “You’re upset because I took them shopping?”

Denise frowned. “I’m upset because you’re already spending your money on them.”

“Brielle, Mom, Brielle.” He shook his head some, not believing that they were having this conversation. “And what am I supposed to do? She needs my help; that’s one of the reasons I brought her out here. Besides,” he turned back to the stove, “it’s my money and I’ll spend it however I wish.”

“Oh, Alex, you always say that and then you get taken advantage of.”

“Brielle is not taking advantage of me.”

“I’m not saying she is, baby, but I want you to remember to just be cautious. This whole situation is just…weird and I would hate for you to end up hurt.”

He sighed and stared into the pot of hot water, wishing it would boil already. “She is having my child; I have to do what I can for her and the baby.”

Denise hesitated a moment then finally spoke, “What’s Renee think about all this?”

“Heh, she’s being a complete bitch.”

“Alex!”

He turned to her and she could see the anger and hurt in his eyes. “I know that she has a right to be angry and upset, but she tried to pull some serious shit the first day they were here.”

“What did she do?”

He finally moved away from the stove and took some garlic toast from the freezer. “She invited all the guys over and their dates …and told them that Brielle and I have this big announcement.”

Denise blinked.

Alex glanced to her, chuckled low at her expression and nodded. “Yeah, they started showing up an hour after Brielle got here herself. Of course, they had no idea I had no clue about this ‘dinner party’, as she called it. So it was really awkward on everyone’s part. And now they know there’s something going on and I’m sure they’re smart enough to put two and two together.” He paused. “Oh, and Kevin and Kristin came too.”

“So, you didn’t tell them?”

“No, Mom. There’s no way I was going to just stand up and announce it at the table. I didn’t want to put Brielle into that situation; she doesn’t know them and they don’t know her.” Tossing the box the bread came in into the trash; Alex moved back to the counter and took out a cookie sheet. “I’m going to tell them when the time is right and I’m ready to. I can’t let Renee bully me into it.”

“And how are you and Renee after that little stunt?”

He snorted, a deep frown line creasing his forehead.

“Oh.”

“You must be happy about that, huh?” His dark eyes glanced her way as he gave the sheet a quick spray of PAM.

Denise’s shoulders drooped. “Of course I’m not happy. Just because I don’t think you made the best decision when you asked her to marry you doesn’t mean I don’t want you to be happy. If you’re upset then I’m upset.”

“Well, you can start to relax, because if things keep going this way, chances are there won’t be a wedding.”

“Oh, Alex,” Denise moved up behind him and smoothed her hand over his back, “I’m sorry, baby.” She wanted to add that maybe that was the way it was supposed to be because Renee wasn’t the woman for him if she didn’t accept that he was having a child, but she didn’t think that’d go over so well at the moment. They could always talk about it another time.

Alex turned into her arms and welcomed her embrace. He was glad his mother had come out earlier than they’d discussed because he really needed that motherly comfort at the moment. Not only was he scared that he was losing his fiancée, but he was still scared to death about having this baby, but he had to be strong for Brielle which left no one to be strong for him. While they may disagree on things, his mom always had the answer and knew what to do.

“Oh, sweetheart, it’s going to be okay,” she soothed as she held him close and smoothed a hand over his back.

He didn’t respond, but stayed in her arms and hugged her close like he was holding onto a lifeline and knew he’d sink if he let go.

Denise kissed his head and whispered comforting words like any mother would do if her child were upset and hurting. She knew he had a lot going on and that underneath it all; he was probably scared to death. Change was not something her son took very well and when it was something this huge, there were definitely going to be repercussions.

After a long moment, Alex pulled back and used the sleeves of his shirt to wipe his eyes.

Denise winced at that and touched his arm. “You’re going to be okay, Alex. And I can stay out here as long as you need me to, okay?”

He nodded and cleared his throat before speaking, “Thanks, Mom.”

“Anything for you, sweetheart.” She touched his cheek then gently tugged him down to her level and kissed it. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Mom.” He gave her a squeeze then rose to his full height. “Okay, let me finish making dinner. Go back out there with Brielle and Lily so you don’t distract me.”

“Alright, honey.” She chuckled and took up her water glass then strode from the kitchen.

Alex watched her go and rubbed his forehead. Shit, he really needed a drink. Inching closer to the hall, he peeked out to see his mom disappear around the corner to the foyer that would take her into the living room. Giving it a moment to make sure she didn’t come back, he finally moved back into the kitchen and took a tumbler from his cabinet. He had a bottle of Jack that he’d bought before Brielle and Lily’s flight had come in and after his mom had arrived, he’d stashed it in the very back behind those items you rarely use but never want to throw out. Withdrawing it from its hiding spot, he poured a quick drink then tucked it away again. One drink wouldn’t hurt and it’d actually calm his nerves so he could enjoy a pleasant dinner. His mom would never find out and what she didn’t know could never hurt her.

~*~*~*~*~

Dinner had been successful. Alex had stopped with two drinks and his mom had been none the wiser. Of course, he’d had to occupy his mind completely the rest of the night because all he could think about was getting his hands onto that bottle of alcohol. It had felt so nice going down and had most certainly calmed his nerves. But the thought of it being in his fridge and unable to touch it had made him fidgety, so after dinner he’d taken the three ladies out to the boardwalk and spent the rest of the evening there just to get his mind off of it.

And now, here he was at three in the morning sitting out on his lanai drinking the much needed liquor straight from the bottle.

A sound from behind caused him to jump and nearly fling the glass bottle across the yard. Turning, he spied Brielle in the doorway, wearing some plaid pajama pants and a plain tee that they’d gotten her earlier in the day.

“Hey.”

He sighed and sank back into the chair with relief that it wasn’t his mother catching him red-handed. “Hey.”

“I couldn’t sleep.” She appeared at his side. “Mind if I join you?”

“Have at it.” He motioned toward the chair next to his then took another long swallow of the alcohol.

The blonde sank down into the seat and drew her legs up, wrapping her arms around them. She let the silence of the night wrap around her and watched out at the view of the Hollywood Hills that the moonlight gave way to.

Alex took another drink of the Jack Daniels and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He shifted his gaze over to Brielle and watched her for a moment. “You alright?”

She sighed and pushed some hair from her face then turned her baby blue’s onto him. “Yeah, I just couldn’t sleep.”

“I know the feeling.”

Her head rested back against the chair and she studied him, waiting a moment before speaking, “Are you worried about Renee?”

He paused in going for another drink and looked back to her. “Where’d that come from?”

She shrugged. “From today; you went to talk to her and she refuses to talk to you…and you’re supposed to be getting married. It’s something I would be worried about.”

“I don’t know.” He sighed and rubbed his forehead with his free hand. Alex wasn’t in the mood to discuss Renee or the dim outlook on his future with her. All he wanted to do was drink his Jack and sit in silence.

“Lily said that if she can’t support you and what you’re going through then maybe she isn’t the right person for you.” She blinked at her forwardness and how that might sound and quickly recanted, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. If you two love each other and want to be together then obviously you’re right for each other.”

Alex wet his bottom lip. “I don’t know what I think anymore. She’s so mad at me; and she has right to be, but…when you and I were together, Renee and I had an understanding of sorts with each other about what infidelities meant.”

“An open relationship?”

“Sort of,” he shifted in his chair, “I traveled a lot so we kept things casual when I was away.”

Brielle nodded in understanding. “I don’t think it’s the fact that you slept with me. I think she’s upset about the baby and that you’ve brought me out here.”

“But she has to know I’d do that. That’s who I am; I want to be there for my child and I want to take care of him or her …and you.”

“Well,” she bit her bottom lip, “maybe that’s what Lily was referring to. If she continues to be upset and refuses to support you…can you really go into a marriage like that? All you’ll do is hate each other and end up divorced and more hurt and upset then you are now.”

“I don’t know,” he sighed out, running a hand over his face then taking another long drink of the potent liquor.

Brielle watched him, feeling more guilt than ever before at having ruined his relationship. “I’m sorry, Alex. I should never have told Lily you were the father and none of this would have happened. You’d be blissfully happy with Renee, planning your wedding and future together.”

“Hey,” he frowned at that, “don’t say that. If Lily had never contacted me, then I might never have known about the baby.” His eyes searched her face. “I don’t regret making the decision to come see you and bring you out here.”

“But what about Renee?”

He didn’t have an answer for that. “We’ll just have to see how things go. I’m gonna go talk to her again, maybe she’ll have calmed down enough to listen to me.”

“And if she doesn’t?”

He paused and wet his bottom lip before saying the words that made his heart ache, “Then I guess we weren’t meant to be.”

She winced at that and turned her eyes back out toward the hills.

The two fell into silence and Alex nursed himself with his liquor bottle. It was nearly empty and he knew that he’d need another one soon. But with his mom out visiting, he’d have to slip away in the dead of night to acquire it, or anymore he may want to buy.

“Does your mom think I’m lying about you being the father?”

Her words interrupted his thoughts and he turned back to her. “She doesn’t think you’re lying, but she’s the kind that always needs the concrete evidence.”

“Does she not like me?”

Alex tilted his head at that. “She doesn’t know you and she doesn’t trust easily.” He met her gaze. “My mom’s been through a lot in the past and sometimes she finds it hard to just take someone for their word. But hey,” he reached and nudged her arm, “she’ll come around.”

Brielle chewed on her lower lip some. “I feel like she thinks I did this on purpose.”

“Got pregnant on purpose?”

The younger girl nodded.

Alex chuckled at that. “How would you have possibly done that on purpose?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged, “but she just gives me this look every time she looks at me; like she’s onto me or something.”

“Aww, Brie,” he chuckled, “she doesn’t think you did it on purpose. She just takes some time to warm up to you, but she’ll get there. She thinks you’re very sweet.”

Brielle gave a soft snort. “She thinks I’ve slept around with too many guys and have no idea who the father is.”

He blinked and looked at her. “Are you serious? She said that to you?”

“Well, not in those words, but she said that sometimes even mothers can be wrong on who the father is.” She peeked her eyes his way, not wanting to cause any ill feelings between Alex and his mom. But she couldn’t lie to him and sitting out here in the peaceful night air, relaxed and feeling comfortable, her words just came out without much precursor.

He sighed and settled back into the chair at that. “That doesn’t mean she thinks you’re a whore. She doesn’t know your situation or your sexual history; she’s speaking like a mother, baby. She’s trying to look out for my best interests and it’s going to take her some time to relax and know that everything’s okay.” He paused. “When our baby is grown and if he, or she, gets into the same situation we are in, I can guarantee that you’ll probably be the same way.”

“Not if it’s a girl.”

Alex blinked at that. “A girl.” He wet his bottom lip and turned his head in her direction. “We might have a girl.”

“Yeah,” she couldn’t help the little grin that was tugging at the corner of her mouth, “a girl.”

“Oh my God, a girl. Do you know what I’ll have to do if we have a girl?”

Brielle lifted her brows at the change in his tone. “What?”

“Put bars on the windows, buy myself a couple guns with plenty of ammo and install the best security system that money can buy.”

“Oh my word, why?”

He chuckled. “Because I’ll have to keep the boys away. I know what teenage boys are like; they’re walking penises. Our daughter will end up defiled in the backseat of some car.”

“Oh no! I hadn’t thought of any of that until you just said it.” She reached and lightly pinched his arm. “Hush that talk. I don’t want to think about any of that. Besides,” she relaxed back in her chair, “maybe we’ll have a boy.”

“So we’ll be letting our horny son go out and defile young women.” He rubbed his forehead. “What are we getting ourselves into, here?”

“I don’t know, but you’re starting to scare me.”

Alex laughed low and set his nearly empty bottle of liquor on a patio table to the side. “I’m starting to scare myself.”

Brielle smoothed some wrinkles from her top. “I’m going to try to be a good mom. I don’t know much on how to be a mom, but I’ll certainly try my best.”

“I think we’re in the same boat there.” He turned his attention to her. “I don’t know how to be a dad; we’ll have to learn together.”

“Lily got me this pregnancy book awhile back. It talks about a lot of things really, like…how the baby is developing and how the mother should feel. What kind of things to do to prepare and it has a checklist so you can make sure you have everything you need before the baby arrives.”

“Oh yeah? I bet that’s really interesting. Did you bring it out here?”

“Yeah,” she grinned, “do you want to see it?”

“I’d love to.”

“Okay,” she rose to her feet, “I’ll be right back.” Then she headed off into the house, reappearing a few minutes later with the book in hand.

Alex grinned and watched as she tugged her chair closer to his and sank down again. “What’s it called?” He leaned forward and peered over to the book, the light from the patio dim, but enough to be able to see the words.

“Surviving Pregnancy.” She held the book up so he could see the cover.

“Ooh, sounds neat. What’s it say about the week you’re in?”

“Well,” she drew the word out as she flipped the cover open then rifled through the pages. “Week twelve…week twelve, ah ha, here it is,” she smoothed the page and cleared her throat some, “you want me to read it to you?”

“Yeah.” He grinned again and settled back into his chair.

“Okay.” She sent him a dazzling grin then began to read from the book, “Your baby in week twelve of pregnancy. By now, your baby weighs a full half-ounce and is about the size of a large plum. Most of his, or her, systems are in place, though there’s still plenty of maturing to do. For one thing, his, or her, fetal digestive system is beginning to practice contraction movements necessary for eating, and his, or her, bone marrow is busy making white blood cells; weapons against germs once he, or she’s, out of your safe haven. The pituitary gland, at the base of the brain, has started producing the hormones that'll enable him, or her, to make babies of his, or her, own in a couple of decades or so.”

Alex lifted his brows. “Better be a couple decades; maybe even a few decades.”

Brielle chuckled at that. “Aww, I’m sure it will be. But that’s pretty neat, huh?”

“It is,” he peered over to the book, “what’s it say about you and your changes?”

“Oh,” she glanced down to her lap and smoothed the page, “well…you want me to read that too?”

“Of course.”

“Kay.” She grinned again then began to read the description about what she should be feeling about this time, “If all those changes in your baby sound dizzying, that may just be you dealing with yet another problematic pregnancy symptom: Lots of women experience occasional dizziness and/or feel faint due to progesterone, which causes increased blood flow to your baby by relaxing your own blood vessels. The decrease in blood flow to your body and brain, along with typically lower blood-sugar levels during pregnancy, can set your world a-spinning. Do your part to keep your equilibrium by eating regularly, getting adequate rest, and standing up slowly.”

“Wow,” he slowly looked her over, “are you feeling okay? Do you feel dizzy?”

“Well, not at the moment.” She closed the book and rested it in her lap. “The other day though, I got a little dizzy after getting up from bed.”

Alex nodded some. “We need to make sure you’re doing all that stuff; eating regularly, eating healthy and getting plenty of rest.”

“Oh no, are you going to become as bad as Lily?”

He chuckled at that, knowing exactly how over motherly Lily could be. “If I have to.”

“Can I make one request?”

“What’s that?”

“That you wait until after she leaves to get that way. I don’t think I could handle two Lilys’ at one time; it’s hard enough sometimes with one.”

He chuckled and took her hand in his. “I’ll do my best and try not to become like she is.”

“Good.” She smiled and it reached her eyes. “Thank you.”

Alex smoothed his thumb along the soft skin of her hand. “For what?”

“For taking care of me,” her free hand drifted to her tummy, “us.”

He drew her hand up and kissed her knuckles. “Well, if we’re giving out thanks, I need to thank you then.”

Brielle tilted her head. “For what?”

“I was feeling pretty crummy tonight, but you’ve really helped me feel better.” She really had and he had no idea how or why, but he wasn’t going to start questioning it.

“Oh,” she smiled, “well, I’m glad I could help.”

“Me too.” He studied her a moment then rose to his feet and gently tugged her up. “But you read that book; you’re supposed to be getting plenty of rest, so let’s head inside and get you back into bed.”

“Okay.” She gave a tired sigh then allowed him to lead her off the lanai and back into the house. “Alex?”

“Yeah?” He shut the door securely behind them and bolted it, then flipped the exterior light off.

“I’m glad we had this talk.”

He smiled at that. “Me too. We’ll have to do it again.”

“Definitely.” Then she leaned up and kissed his cheek. “Good night.”

“Good night.” He watched her make her way back through the house toward the staircase then shook himself from his daze and followed her path.




*information on baby and mommy in week 12 of pregnancy taken from What To Expect @ www.whattoexpect.com